In the past, a number of devices have been proposed for use by golfers, to aid them in developing and improving their swings. Unfortunately, many of the prior art devices concerned with the swing of the club have been expensive to purchase and/or difficult to use. As a consequence, only a very few of these training devices have gained favor with golfers.
It would be ideal to provide a device to assist a golfer in achieving the correct club face rotation throughout the backswing and through-swing; in achieving proper hinging and release of the golf club during the back swing and through-swing; in assuring proper positioning of both of the golfer's hands when he is at the top of his back swing of the club; and at the initiation of his down swing of the golf club as well as at the through swing and the end of the follow-through swing. By achieving proper rotation and hinge of the club as well as the correct hand positions, the golf club would ideally stay on its proper swing plane, thereby enabling the golfer to achieve a well-executed shot.
Certain prior art devices caused the wrist to be held in a flat or bowed position through the entire swing, which was somewhat helpful, but this did not allow for achieving a square club face at the time of impact with the ball. In other words, the holding of the wrist in the flat position does not guarantee that the club face will be square in order that erratic ball flight can be avoided. Stating this differently, the known prior art devices designed to assure a flat left wrist, desirable at the time of impact, utterly fail to permit the wrist to be bent at setup and at finish. Because the bent wrist was not permitted at these times, off-plane movement of the club resulted.
A more desirable apparatus would not need to be rigidly attached to the golfer's wrists, hands or arms, as many prior golf training devices have required. Moreover, a desirable apparatus would be useful for training golfers in the full swing of a club, rather than being limited to training a golfer to putt, or chip which is the case with many prior golf training devices.
Regarding some of the relevant prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 2,273,416 to Norwood describes a golf instruction device which includes a harness that is attached to a golfer's right wrist (for a golfer with a right-handed swing) and a rigid guide which contacts the top of the club above the hands. The Norwood device does not address positioning of both hands and arms, nor is it directed to correction of the swing. Rather, it is designed to train a golfer in correcting his putting and the shorter approach shots.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,951,416 to Koch describes a golf training device which includes a clamp at the top of the golf club and a clamp that attaches to the wrist of the golfer's trailing arm. That training device is designed to improve the golfer's short swings and putting, but is not applicable to training for full swings. Moreover, the device restricts the golfer to using a “choked-up” grip because one of the clamps is positioned at the top of the club.
Another of the pertinent prior art patents is the Lorang U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,812 entitled “Golf Swing Wrist Action Training Apparatus,” in which the patentee is concerned with the difficulty of teaching the super-imposition of the wrist swing on the arm swing together with all the other do's and don'ts of golf instruction. This patentee provides a leg attached to the shaft of a golf club at a point below where the player's hands engage the grip portion of the shaft, with this leg being mounted on the off-target side of the shaft. The player is to keep his wrists straight during the initial portion of the backswing, but when his hands are approximately at the level of his hips, the player cocks his wrists in the off-target direction and this swings the shaft in an appropriate manner, with this swing of the shaft relative to the off-target forearm also swinging this leg. In accordance with the Lorang invention, signal means are provided for advising the player when he has properly cocked his wrists, when he has properly uncocked his wrists, and also when he relaxes his wrists and let them uncock inadvertently. To this end, the patentee has provided a sound signal “clicker” device actuated at the contact end of the leg, which emits a “click” signal upon a full wrist cock.
Obviously it is not only expensive but also burdensome for all of these ancillary components to be added to a golf club used for practice.
Somewhat along the lines of the Lorang patent is the Stewart U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,054 entitled “Golf Swing Training Aid.” Stewart provides a laterally-spaced, angularly-directed bifurcation of the shaft of his golf club. This patentee mentions that during a properly executed swing, this added component, spoken of as a long, slim rod, remains inoperative during a properly executed swing. However, the patentee continues on to state that this rod contacts the forearms of the golfer during an improperly executed swing, thus advising him of his error. Like Lorang, the slim rod added to the club shaft by Stewart is burdensome, and adds unnecessary weight to the golf club-like device.
The Richards U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,111 entitled “Golf Swing Simulator Device” is an elaborate device that would be expensive to produce and difficult to use. This patent would solve few of the problems with golf swing that are solved by the use of the instant invention.
The Cox U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,426 entitled “Golf Club Guide Means” provides an attachment to the upper end of the club shaft, and provides an abutment which continuously engages the user's trailing forearm during both the backswing and the follow-through positions. This is done, in accordance with the Cox patent, in order to maintain operative alignment between the club and the user's trailing arm as the club is swung through each position. Unfortunately, the Cox device has only limited pertinence insofar as teaching proper wrist action and proper forearm rotation, as will be helpful to a novice golfer striving to improve his stroke.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,568 to Vasquez discloses a device which is designed to train golfers in putting. It does not address a full swing. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,354 to Vasquez discloses a device to train golfers in pitching and putting and likewise does not address a full swing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,146 to Viets et al discloses a device which attaches to the top of the golf club and includes two rigid clamps for each arm. Once again, this patent is concerned only with arm positioning for putting and does not address full swing positioning.
The Armstrong, III U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,126 entitled “Golf Swing Aid” is quite burdensome to use, has only very limited applicability to the invention at hand, and does not purport to improve upon the wrist action of the golfer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,447 to Perham et al relates to a movement-sensing device which is attached to a golfer's leading arm and extends between the forearm to midway up the biceps, encasing the elbow. The device includes electronic sensors which alert the golfer when the leading arm is not properly positioned. The device is directed solely to the proper positioning of the leading arm. It obviously would be too expensive to be purchased by many golfers.
It was in an effort to overcome the shortcomings of these and other such patents that the instant invention was created.